Everyone from Mayor Mallory to the Fountain Square shoe shine brigade is preparing for the 99th annual NAACP convention starting this Saturday and running through the 17th at the Duke Energy Convention Center. Representatives from the Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau as well as the Cincinnati USA Chamber of Commerce have spent the last few months working overtime to get the city convention ready although planning for the convention actually began more than two years ago.
A coalition of corporate, religious and civic leaders joined in the effort to convince convention organizers that Cincinnati is the place to be over competition cities as glamorous as Las Vegas. That says something significant about what we as a city can do when we set our collective minds, passion and resources to it. Other national conventions will be looking to see how we prepare, welcome and service the thousands of guests visiting our center city next week. If ever there was an opportunity to convince the rest of the country - as well as ourselves, that something great is happening to the city of Cincinnati, this is it.
Case in point, among the many variables that helped convince convention officials to choose Cincinnati was an additional $1 million raised by civic leaders to provide capital and logistical support for the event as well as September’s National Baptist Convention which will again thrust Cincinnati into the national spotlight.
The two conventions combined are expected to bring more than 50,000 visitors to Cincinnati as well as up to $7 million in revenue for the region. It’s precisely these kinds of events that help showcase Cincinnati as a desirable destination for top-tier conventions. Next week, Soapbox will run a feature by Feoshia Henderson illustrating why conventions like these are important for the city and the region.
Mayor Mark Mallory and City Manager Milton Dohoney have invested almost an additional $900,000 in structural and beautification upgrades to downtown including new signage, repainted cross walks, repaved streets, new curbs and sidewalks and banners all over downtown welcoming the delegates to Cincinnati.
“It’s a lot like getting ready for a wedding,” says Convention and Visitors Bureau Director of Marketing, Randie Adam.
Imagine a wedding with an 8,000 person guest list, most of whom who have never been to Cincinnati before.
As the city prepares for the delegate’s arrival, civic leaders are looking to “heighten” the Cincinnati experience. Two seminars were held leading up to the convention to ensure Cincinnati’s first line employees – its city workers, hotel staffers, restaurant servers and taxi drivers are ready to offer first-class hospitality and service.
The city is also planning to blanket downtown with a marketing campaign of welcome including banners on every corner, special signage, public service announcements on radio and TV and constant coverage of convention highlights and speeches on Fountain Square’s giant LED screen.
Soapbox recently spoke with Jason Dunn, Director of Multicultural Affairs and Community Development for the Convention and Visitors Bureau about what it’s like to prepare for a convention of this magnitude where all eyes will be on Cincinnati.
“This is our opportunity to show how our city has changed over the last five years,” says Dunn who doesn’t think we need to be so surprised that Cincinnati beat out Las Vegas for the convention. “We are a microcosm of the rest of the country,” says Dunn. “We have our problems, but so does every city.” If things work out as organizers plan, it will be Cincinnati’s collective triumph – the way in which we work to meet those challenges, that the rest of the country will take away.
Dunn sees the NAACP convention as one of the first times he can remember when so many civic, private, religious, news and corporate entities have come together to do something this large. “We brought everyone into one room on this one. There are a lot of people who genuinely want to progress this city. Everyone I’m working with is passionate about making Cincinnati better as well as showing we are a metropolitan player.”
NAACP interim President Courtland Hayes and national board member Hazel Dukes, recently announced highlights of the convention which includes sessions on voter outreach events, health screenings, financial empowerment sessions, discussions on juvenile justice, and a bevy of entertainment each night of the conference.
Hayes says it was clear that the CVB and Mayor Mallory along with the city, state and local NAACP branch had worked hard to win the right to host the convention.
"We know there are still issues that need to be worked on, and we think we can help make a difference by being here to share our vision and to get people to understand how talking together and understanding each other will more likely lead to a real resolution," Hayes said.
The theme for this year’s convention is “Power, Justice, Freedom, Vote,” an appropriate moniker for an upcoming election in one of the most hotly contested swing states.
“This year’s convention is a culmination and celebration of all the NAACP represents,” said National Board of Directors Vice Chair and Convention Planning Committee Chair Roslyn M. Brock. “The convention’s offerings underscore that the NAACP has a place for everyone and every lifestyle.”
Among the many highlights of the convention, two of the most anticipated guest speakers include Republican presidential presumptive candidate John McCain and Democratic presidential presumptive candidate Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Andrew Young, Julian Bond and Ben Hooks will also be among the speakers throughout the convention.
The NAACP marks the 27th ethnic convention in Cincinnati since 2004 indicating a positive shift in the city’s stature following the riots of 2001. "We had no ethnic meetings between 2001 and 2004, but a lot of work has been done by a lot of individuals and a lot of organizations," says CVB President Dan Lincoln.
That’s good news to Jason Dunn’s ears. “This is our opportunity to showcase our city. If we can change Cincinnati, we can change the nation. We can make room for a different kind of conversation.”
Photography by Scott Beseler
Jason Dunn, Director of Multicultural Affairs and Community Development for the Convention and Visitors Bureau
Tom Otterness scultpure
NAACP banners downtown
Barack Obama copyright Andrew Certo